Neighbors: Ready for a warm-up?

Cathy Butterfield of Greenfield, left, and Deb Demers of Turners Falls take some shots of an ice sculpture on the Greenfield Town Common during a previous year’s Winter Carnival. Recorder file photo)
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It has been a frigid week, but it appears we’re going to warm up for the weekend. Temperatures are supposed to rise into the 30s today and 40s on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Toasty!

January is the month of the Full Wolf Moon, which will appear at 11:52 p.m. on Wednesday.

The Farmers’ Almanac says that the moon got its name because amid the cold and deep snows of mid-winter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages.

Sometimes, January’s full moon is also referred to as the Old Moon or Moon After Yule. Some tribes called it the Full Snow Moon, but most tribes used that name for February’s full moon.

Did you know that Native American full moon names were created to help different tribes track the seasons?

The early Native Americans didn’t record time by using the months of the Julian or Gregorian calendar, says Farmers’ Almanac. Instead, many tribes kept track of time by observing the seasons and months, though every tribe did it differently.

For some, the year consisted of four seasons and started with spring or fall. Others counted five seasons and some defined a year as 12 or 13 moons.

Each tribe had its own naming preferences for full moons, hence the two or three or four names I tell you about every so often.

Notice that each name relates to a particular activity or event that occurred in a particular location at a particular time.

I’m told it was Colonial Americans who adopted some of the Native American full moon names and applied them to their own calendar system.

Have fun this weekend and enjoy the, I’m sure, brief warm-up.

MOUNT GRACE LAND TRUST will be hiking the eight-mile moderate Tully-Long Pond Trail on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Hikers should meet at the Tully Lake Campground before 9:30.

THE ARBORS AT GREENFIELD will present “Personal Business Organizing for Older Adults” by Betsey Yetter on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at The Arbors on Meridian Street.

The presentation will include rules of thumb on which paperwork to keep and for how long, what to toss, how to reduce junk mail, where to keep important papers, and much more.

Light refreshments will be served. Seats are limited, so call 413-774-4400 to make a reservation.

THE GREENFIELD WINTER CARNIVAL will continue its 92-year tradition with three days of winter fun Jan. 31 through Feb. 2.

The carnival will kick off on Jan. 31 with ice carvings being displayed throughout the downtown and continue that evening with a bonfire, fire dancers and fireworks at Beacon Field.

Once again, the weekend will be full of exciting things to do, including The Recorder’s Amateur Photography Contest, a middle school art exhibit, public ice skating, the Sleigh Bell Run, a LEGO competition, Breakfast with Frosty, lots of sledding, the second annual K-9 Keg Pull to benefit the Paws Park Initiative, which aims to build a dog park in Greenfield, and, of course, the famous cardboard sled race.

FINALLY, I RECENTLY RECEIVED A LETTER from a young man who attends fifth grade at Conway School in Mount Vernon, Wash. He is doing a report on what he calls “the awesome state,” Massachusetts.

Ben says that everyone knows we have the best sports teams.

He’d like our help with his report. He needs objects from Massachusetts, including a jersey, hat, bat, ball, license plate, a state flag, magazines, a key chain, or whatever else we can think of.

Ben’s project is due in April.

If you want more information, you may email his teacher, Mrs. Talbert, at: ktalbert@conway.K12.wa.us.

To contact Anita Fritz, a staff reporter at The Recorder, send an email to: franklincountyneighbors@gmail.com or call 413-772-0261, ext. 280. You can also reach Anita on Facebook at Anita’s Neighbors. Information to be included in Neighbors may also be sent to: neighbors@recorder.com up to noon two days before you want it to run.